Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: retrofiting a max nc help

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Well after checking out those places you mentioned I am a little
overwhelmed. There controls cost as much as I piad for my whole
machine and add ons.:( Can you help with another solution?
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Ha ha ha, I guess you see why a few were suggesting you build your own now.
They are _real_ expensive compared to what they need to cost. You don't need
to learn too much to make your own if you're only driving a small mill like
a MaxNC. You mentioned it was closed loop which I guess might make it a bit
trickier but not really. Have a look at the Gecko's that were suggested.

You know that all you need on top of the Geckos is a power supply for them
(Assuming you have the computer already of coarse)? It's not hard at all to
make a control. There are guys on here who I'm sure will tell you they know
nothing about how to set out designing one but have put one together. The
Geckos require zero assembly so all you need to fix is power. In fact many
would probably say you'd probably be going over the top using Gecko's on
such a small and fairly inaccurate machine.

Camtronics sell a driver board for 3 axis movement on steppers. It just
takes you a night or so of soldering to put them it together. I think you
can even buy them pre-soldered. But one thing for sure is that 'brand name',
or idiot proof, systems are very costly indeed. The Flashcut one I pointed
to is sold on machines in things like the RioGrande catalogue for jewellers
and they tear the rules up when it comes to pricing. A tiny machine for
plastic and light metals is £20K!! in there because it's plug and play. If
you want to save some money the biggest saving will be making it yourself.
That is unless you earn something ridiculous per hour of course.

They are relying on people thinking "Oh it's got lots of small electric bits
in and is too hard for me to build." because then they can charge you what
they like. If you ignore that and have a go at making one of the controls
yourself you'll be striking back against the evil system! : )

I am contemplating this myself. I have a just recently got a cnc lathe and
it sits on a controller the size of a desk; it's bigger than the machine
itself. Inside is a maze of boards, wires and huge transformers because this
thing is about 18 - 20 years old. Now we've moved on so much that I could
fit the entire of that controller into something the same size as a shoe
box, and what's more I'd have a million other new features. Like being able
to talk to the machine in pseudo real time from my computer and send it
massive codes to run rather than just 99 lines. Something like Camtronics
board would let me control the lathe, and do what I'm thinking of possibly
doing. That is to buy a vertical slide and fit it over the lathe with a
milling head on so's I can use the lathe for small scale milling (Ala 3 in
dodgy 1 style).

I have not used Geckos or Camtronics' board but I have heard _nothing_ but
praise for them from everyone who has, particularly Geckos. Places to try
are:
http://www.super-tech.com/
www.geckodrive.com
www.stepperworld.com
http://www.seanet.com/~dmauch/

Regards,
John